Monkey See, Monkey Do: Who Are Children Mimicking?
Monkey see, monkey do, is a saying derived from the 1920’s that refers to the act of mimicry, usually with limited knowledge and/or concern for the consequences.

I’ve worked with kids for 20 years and it is very clear that children take on the […]

The Great Debate: Essential Questions or I Can Statements
As educators, the focus in our profession is teaching others and helping our students learn, grow, and develop as much as possible. Fortunately, teachers also have the opportunity to continually learn and grow themselves. As new research is done and trends are […]

8 Tips for Successful Classroom Management
When I think about one of my greatest strengths as a teacher I would say it is classroom management. But when it comes to effectively managing a classroom of 25 plus children, I don’t think you can ever have it completely figured out. I […]

Five Secrets To Becoming A Child Whisperer
For as long as I can remember I’ve had a strong connection with young people. A friend of mine nicknamed me, a “child whisperer”, after her daughter held onto my leg and said I can’t go home after a visit with them for a […]

Ready or not the new school year is upon us. Rosters are set, schedules are made, and curriculums are being finalized. As art teachers we have an endless amount of resources that we can pull from to supplement our teaching. We can find inspiration from nature, media, art history, core […]

20 Attention Getting Strategies Using Call and Response
As a former Summer Camp Director I had to master getting the attention of hundreds of kids at once. Speaking to a group that isn’t quiet and focused on you isn’t productive. At least 50% of the group will miss what you are […]

Make Art An Inside Job
As an author I have the opportunity to connect and work with other authors. I wanted to share an excerpt from Ritch Eich’s latest book, Leadership CPR. He has written four books on Leadership and he has always been a big supporter and advocate for the […]

They say if you love your job, you never work a day in your life. I love my job. I love being an art teacher. Creating art with kids all day, the busy schedule, the long hours, the mile long to-do lists… I really do love it all. Another big […]

One of the most memorable things from my childhood was waking up to blasting musical theatre songs as my alarm clock. Almost every morning the stereo in the living room would be cranked with a different show. Whether it was Annie, Fiddler On The Roof, Les Mis, The Sound of […]

I had a wonderful opportunity to chat with Music Educator, Reese Barkhuizen last week and I wanted to share some of his ideas with you. So I interviewed this international concert pianist and teacher to get his thoughts on effective practicing, stage fright and why teachers with performance backgrounds might […]

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